Los Angeles Daily News, CA
May 27 2005

City donates surplus ambulance to Armenian sister city

By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer

GLENDALE — Years after donating computers and money to buy badly
needed books, Glendale has donated to its sister city in Armenia what
will be its fire department’s only ambulance.
The nonprofit Glendale Ghapan Sister City Association gave the
surplus paramedic ambulance to the city, which has a population of
about 55,000. Ghapan is an agricultural and industrial center, but
also has libraries, museums, theater companies and dozens of schools.

“It will make a big difference because Ghapan is located
approximately 220 miles southeast of the capital of Yerevan in a
mountainous region and its fire department needs this equipment badly
to serve its people,” said Artin Manoukian, president of the Glendale
Ghapan Sister City Association. “We look forward to in-kind donations
from the city and nonprofit organizations.”

The nonprofit United Armenian Foundation stepped in to pay the nearly
$20,000 needed to transport the truck-style ambulance to Ghapan,
where it is expected to arrive at the end of July.

Ghapan’s hospital currently has just one ambulance.

City Councilman Ara Najarian said Ghapan has gone through a
depression since the collapse of the Soviet Union, so the ambulance
will not only save lives, but but boost the morale of its residents
and emergency services personnel.

“It’s a great opportunity to make such a big impact on the lives of
the people of Ghapan, whereas otherwise, this truck might have been
put up for auction somewhere, it might have gotten a few thousand
dollars and whoever got it might have turned it into a van,” said
Najarian, who was part of a city delegation that visited Ghapan in
2003.

“This is people helping people. It will immediately be put to good
use to help save many lives. As any paramedic will tell you, the
first few minutes are so critical to save somebody’s life.”

Glendale has exchanged equipment, training and information over the
years with its other sister cities of Rosarito, Mexico; Tlaquepaque,
Mexico; and Higashiosaka, Japan.

The last time Glendale donated fire equipment to a sister city was in
June 2003, when officials gave Rosarito five used firetrucks, water
pumps for the fire department and 80 streetlight globes and fixtures
in an effort to help upgrade services in the city.